From Deseret News archives:
5 charged in teens' alcohol poisoning
The five were charged in 3rd District Juvenile Court in Silver Summit after a monthlong investigation into the death of Joseph Hunter, 17.
Prosecutors charged Rita Palmer, 23, with one count of supplying alcohol to a minor, a class A misdemeanor. Abram Kenter, 20, was charged with four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, false information to a police officer and underage alcohol consumption, all class B misdemeanors.
Summit County Attorney David Brickey declined to identify the juveniles charged in the case, citing court privacy rules regarding minors.
"I think it was just a get-together with boys," Brickey told the Deseret Morning News on Monday. "She (Palmer) provided the alcohol that was drunk."
On March 17, a Summit County Sheriff's deputy stopped a car near Coalville and found five teens inside.
"He smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from the defendant," Summit County Sheriff's Sgt. Brad Wilde wrote in an affidavit filed with the charges against Kenter.
After questioning four teens, the deputy ordered them out and found Hunter in the backseat.
The deputy "made contact with that individual and determined he did not have any vital signs and was unresponsive," Wilde wrote.
The deputy started CPR and an ambulance was called. Hunter was later pronounced dead.
"We have determined the boys probably didn't realize he was dying," Brickey said.
In court papers filed in Palmer's case, deputies claimed she bought a half-gallon of Canadian Hunter whiskey for a teen identified as "B.J.K." Prosecutors allege that Palmer knew the juvenile was under 21.
Investigators believed Kenter had been drinking, Wilde wrote in court papers. Moreover, "during the investigation, Abram R. Kenter consistently provided false information as to where the alcohol was consumed and when."
Palmer and Kenter have been issued summons to appear in court this Friday.
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
